Coretta Scott King funeral set to become launchpad for more GOP victimization politics

I saw some clips on the NewsHour tonight of speeches made at the service. As one might expect, reception of Carter and Clinton was much, much warmer than the reception for the Bushes. But one speech in particular, by a Reverend Joseph Lowery, got a big reaction from the crowd-- he spoke of concerns beyond race relations, addressing the importance of education, fighting poverty, and economic opportunity. And yes, he also took a pretty obvious swipe at George II. And Bush sat and applauded while Lowery said this: "We know now there were no weapons of mass destruction over there [standing ovation]... but Coretta knew and we know that there are weapons of misdirection right down here. Millions without health insurance. Poverty abounds. For war billions more but no more for the poor."

It goes without saying that right-wing pundits were already cutting loose on this evening's shows about how the ceremony was marred by liberals behaving badly. Nancyboy Tucker Carlson was at it, as well as Kate O'Beirne on Hardball. Undoubtedly, it will get a few days' worth of attention from the Limbaughs and Hannitys out there. Nothing like fanning the flames of hatred to inspire the base. And I'm sure there will be all sorts of hand-wringing references to the memorial service for Minnesota's Paul Wellstone, which is another tale of carefully-orchestrated outrage at something that didn't even happen. Oddly, the righties didn't hesitate to criticize Jimmy Carter at the very moment they accused others of criticizing Bush. But it all makes sense in Bizarroworld.

This post from AmericaBlog has some info on Reverend Lowery, and otherwise shares my unpleasant premonition of right-wing attacks on the event. Sad as it is to hear wealthy, white Republicans bemoan the decline in civil discourse in the same week their beloved leader announced massive cuts to social programs in order to fund tax giveaways to the already-rich, it's all too familiar. "Poor Southern blacks are picking on us!" Give me a break.

You can check out some video highlights via Crooks & Liars.